Author Information

T.E. McMorrow

Reporter

T.E. McMorrow began freelancing for The Star in 2009, before coming on staff, full time, at the end of 2011. He is a member of the Drama Desk in New York. His book, “Nutcracker in Harlem,” illustrated by James Ransome, is scheduled for publication in the fall of 2016 by HarperCollins children’s division.

Articles by this author:

With Christmas just around the corner, the naughty list was very short last week, with only one drunken-driving arrest in all of East Hampton and Sag Harbor.

East Hampton Town police received a call from a Cedar Ridge Drive resident last Thursday night, reporting “unknown persons in the driveway.” The problem was, according to the police, that Victor H. Basantez-Macas, 30, of Springs, had driven into the wrong driveway and was having trouble getting out.

Even after receiving the news at the town planning board meeting, opponents of the plan stayed until the proposed zoning change needed to make it possible was discussed. The town planning board voted to recommend against the change, as had the Suffolk County Planning Commission.

A Springs man who was charged early Saturday with driving while intoxicated appears likely to be indicted by a grand jury for felony D.W.I.

Geraldo M. Lligui, 63, was arraigned that morning before East Hampton Justice Lisa Rana, who was also on the bench in April 2011 when he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor drunken driving. She fined him $1,000 at the time.

A dispute between the parents of a 6-month-old baby in a trailer park in Montauk ended early last Thursday morning with both under arrest, the mother for allegedly stabbing the father, who, in turn, was charged with choking the mother. The woman told East Hampton Town police, however, that she was acting in self-defense, according to court records.

Scott Schwartz’s choice for the first production of his first main stage season as Bay Street Theatre’s artistic director augurs well for the goal of returning Bay Street to the cutting edge of America’s regional theater scene.

“Conviction” by Carey Crim will make its world premiere at Bay Street in 2014 with Mr. Schwartz directing. It is the story of a trusted and honored teacher accused of sexual misconduct with a student.

A pool patio on Cove Hollow Road was given an okay by the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals on Nov. 19, but an adjoining pool house got an emphatic no. James and Christine Weinberg bought their half-acre property, which contained a 3,800-square-foot house, a 648-square-foot pool, and a 592-square-foot pool house, in 2002. The latter structure pre-existed zoning and was allowed to remain in place. The Weinbergs’ application, which was heard on Oct.

Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota has obtained grand jury indictments against three local men following their arrests in recent weeks on felony charges of driving while intoxicated.

Rody D. Tapia, 39, of Springs, who has a previous D.W.I. conviction within the past 10 years, was charged on Oct. 27 following an accident in his own driveway. He is out on $10,000 bail, awaiting arraignment in the criminal court building in Riverhead on Dec. 11.

East Hampton Town police have made three arrests over the past two weeks, including two charging physically abusive felonies, in separate incidents involving residents of Phoenix House, a drug treatment facility in Wainscott.

Blogs by this author:

Southampton Town police have asked the public to assist them in an investigation of a "hide-a-key" thief possibly responsible for a series of burglaries.

According to a release from Detective Sgt. Lisa A. Costa, a man drove up to a Water Mill house on Friday and lifted the doormat at the front door, searching for a key. The statement does not indicate whether the man entered the house.

A Long Island Rail Road train headed for Montauk is being held up in Amityville after it struck and killed a man on the tracks on Saturday afternoon.

As police investigated, between 110 and 150 passengers were stuck on the eastbound train, which left Jamaica at 12:10 p.m. The accident occurred at about 12:45 p.m. The train was due in Montauk at 3 p.m.

Trains were delayed in both directions. Though service was expected to be restored soon, trains will be bypassing the Amityville station during the investigation.

On Tuesday the East Hampton Town Police Department awarded 13 officers for outstanding and dedicated acts of police work during 2014. Each officer was given an award bar to be displayed over his or her shield.